READ NOVEL ONLINE Chapter 57.2
Mary and Teo had already clutched their own celadon creations tightly to their chests, trembling as if I might seize them next.
They looked at me like squirrels guarding their last stash of nuts for winter.
“It won’t break?”
Leaving the two shivering behind me, I pondered why this celadon wouldn’t shatter.
“Could it be the magic stone powder and the soil from the old greenhouse farm…?”
It didn’t take long for a rough theory to form in my mind.
The magic stone powder might have played a role, but I suspected the real culprit was the soil from the Northern greenhouse farm blessed by Mary. The reason for the celadon’s blue-green color was probably the same.
“Hand me a hammer.”
What had started as a simple quality control check had now turned into a full-fledged durability test.
With a hammer in hand, I walked up to the bowl I had first thrown. This time, I swung with my full strength.
Clang—!
Finally, the bowl cracked.
But it didn’t shatter.
There was just a large fracture running through it.
“Huff!”
Frustrated, I raised the hammer and swung it twice more.
Clang! Clang!
At last, the bowl broke into three pieces.
“Phew…”
I let out a heavy breath, wiping the sweat from my brow. My eyes glinted with determination as I continued the statement I’d left unfinished earlier.
“Arad Company’s first rule… is quality control!”
“A-Amazing…! Unbreakable pottery…”
“This is… this is… the highest possible quality! We won’t even need magical storage boxes from the Empire anymore!”
“Hmm?”
‘Wait a second…’
Somehow, I had the feeling that my idea of “quality control” had been completely misunderstood.
***
The next morning.
Teo, the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of Arad Company, had been granted a vacation.
Not just him, but Boss Arad and Mary, the boss’s secretary and acting dean of the Academy, were also taking the day off.
Feeling at ease, Teo strolled through the inner city, away from the factory district.
After two straight days of work—laboring by day and making pottery by night—he had barely gotten any sleep.
But strangely enough, his body felt full of energy.
Held firmly in his arms was none other than the North’s very first celadon—the creation he had poured his heart into.
Teo stepped into a particular building in the inner city, cradling the celadon with great care.
The moment he spotted a familiar figure at the counter, he called out loudly.
“Maria!”
“Teo?”
At the counter stood a small-framed woman with a sweet, innocent look. Her eyes widened in surprise when she saw him.
“What are you doing here? Isn’t this during work hours?”
“I got a special leave today.”
Teo responded with a grin as he glanced around.
“How’s business? Sold any books today?”
“You’re my first customer.”
This was a small bookstore in the inner city.
Since the literacy rate in the North was low, bookstores were rare. Even in the High Tower, the capital of Renslet, there were only a handful.
Running a bookstore in such a region hinted at something unusual about the woman’s background.
“I’m the first customer today? What an honor!”
“‘Honor’? It just means business is slow. So, what brings you here today?”
“I came to see if you had any new arrivals.”
“New arrivals? You already finished the last book you bought?”
“Of course.”
“W-Wow!”
Her eyes lit up, brimming with admiration.
‘It was worth staying up late to read!’
Seeing that light in her eyes filled Teo with an indescribable sense of joy.
That gaze was the reason he’d devoured book after book like a starving wolf.
“Then, how about this book? It just arrived from the Empire.”
“If you’re recommending it, Maria, then I’ll take it.”
“D-Don’t say weird things like that! A-Anyway, I’ll give you a discount just this once!”
***
Their story started a while back.
At that time, Teo still had one arm.
Although he had been recommended for the position by his half-brother, Sir Rosie, adjusting to his new job had not been easy.
Teo had spent his whole life swinging a sword.
Sure, he knew how to read and write, but wrestling with paperwork was a different beast entirely.
On his first day, he was already hitting an invisible wall.
While he eventually learned to use an abacus for calculations, most other office tasks left him confused.
Boss Arad Jin, being a patient man, didn’t rush him.
Even so, Teo decided he couldn’t stay idle. He figured that, at the very least, he should read some books on merchant guild operations and administrative work.
His plan was to buy some books, grab some snacks, and return to the barracks to study.
That’s when he stumbled across a small bookstore in the inner city.
“Here, let me get that for you.”
“Huh…? Oh… th-thank you, milady.”
“No need to thank me. You’re from the Expeditionary Forces, right?”
It was on that day that Teo met Maria for the first time.
“If anything, I should be the one thanking you. Thanks to you, I can live in peace like this.”
“……!”
“What kind of book are you looking for? I’ll help you find it. Not like there’s anyone else here anyway.”
“I’m Teo. That’s my name.”
“Ah, I’m Maria.”
“Maria.”
She was a kindhearted lady who had offered him a bit of help while he struggled to pick books with only one arm.
That day, Teo fell in love at first sight.
Ever since then, whenever he had free time, he would visit her bookstore.
Even after he got a prosthetic arm and became more adept at handling administrative work, his visits didn’t stop.
Arad Company paid wages weekly, and Teo spent most of his pay at the bookstore.
To date, he has bought a total of seven books from Maria’s store.
Considering that papermaking and printing technology were still underdeveloped in this world, buying even one or two books a month was a significant expense.
Yet, Teo did it without hesitation.
For Maria, and for that glowing gaze of admiration.
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